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WHOOPING CRANE CHICK: DAY 02

Our chick is warm and comfortable in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
        Photo by Damien Ossi, 
        USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

The veterinarian, Dr. Olsen, examines our chick to make sure he's healthy. He's listening to the chick's heartbeat with the same kind of stethoscope they use on infants. The end of it is in his hand, pressed against the chick, and the black tube is the part that leads to the earpieces hidden under his hood.
Photo by Nelson Beyer, 
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
The veterinarian, Dr. Olsen, examines our chick to make sure he's healthy. He's listening to the chick's heartbeat with the same kind of stethoscope they use on infants. The end of it is in his hand, pressed against the chick, and the black tube is the part that leads to the earpieces hidden under his hood. Brenda holds the chick carefully, so that he's safe and secure for the exam. Our chick weighs 114 grams today, down from 128 yesterday, but this is an average weight loss. The chick will be examined for the first 7 days of his life, to be sure he's not losing too much weight, or having other problems. 
Our chick is warm and comfortable in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). His legs are not as swollen and he's strong enough to sit up and eat a little. He's walking, but he's still uncoordinated and his legs and feet don't always do what he wants them to. You can see his white leg band in the picture and make out his number -- 018. He is our thirteenth whooper chick this year, and our eighteenth crane chick. (We've also hatched 5 Florida sandhill crane chicks.) The ICU is made of clear plexiglass so he can see out. In front of the chick is a whooping crane puppet head that is small enough to stay in the ICU with him. This helps with proper imprinting (an attachment the chick develops for whoever feeds and cares for him). When young chicks sleep in the ICU they often cuddle up to this puppet. We can also use this smaller puppet to start feeding the chick right in the ICU. The puppet has a plastic molded crane head, glass eyes, and is covered with felt that won't unravel if the chick picks at it. The red tip on the bill helps the chick focus on it when we use it to feed him.

Check on our chick tomorrow!

Cool Facts:

Cool Facts: Teaching a chick to eat and drink: Whooper parents catch food for their chicks all day long. At Patuxent, the chicks' human parents have it a little easier. We feed the chicks a prepared diet called Crane Chick Starter Crumbles. It's a green-gray pelleted food that looks a little like rabbit food, that's crushed into a crumbled form. The diet is a balanced formula, with everything in it the chick needs to grow. Teaching a chick to eat and drink: Whooper parents catch food for their chicks all day long. At Patuxent, the chicks' human parents have it a little easier. We feed the chicks a prepared diet called Crane Chick Starter Crumbles. It's a green-gray pelleted food that looks a little like rabbit food, that's crushed into a crumbled form. The diet is a balanced formula, with everything in it the chick needs to grow.

This chick, about 4 days old, follows the red-tipped puppet bill as it probes around the food.
 Photo by Damien Ossi, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

  This chick, about 4 days old, follows the red-tipped puppet bill as it probes around the food. Technicians work with the chicks every hour, using the puppet head to teach the chick what to do. The technician dips the puppet's bill into a bowl of water, wetting it, then dips it into the crumbles which stick to the bill. The chick will peck the food off the bill, and eventually follow the bill to the food or water, and learn to eat or drink.

 See this page for more cool facts each day.

Click here to ask questions about our chick or Patuxent's crane program. 
Please help us name our newly hatched chick!*  Our choices are:

Patuxent ("Tux" for short) - for the name of our Research Center
Chesapeake ("Chessie" for short) - for the Chesapeake Bay
Laurel - for the town in Maryland where the chick hatched and for the flowering plant

*This contest was run in May, 2000. If you follow the progress of the chick you will find out the results.

 Hatch Day (Click on numbered links to view other egg (negative numbers) and chick days).

-4

-3

-2

-1

 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

 To check on updates after day 14, go to whooper's home.
General Info on Cranes Why are Cranes Endangered? Frequently Asked Questions Photo Gallery Cool Facts Related Links Whoopers Home

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA
URL http://whoopers.usgs.gov
Contact: Jonathan Male
Last Modification: 14-June-2000@14:56 (edt)
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